


Twisted Mirror

by Jackdaw816



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Audio Series 05: Aliens Among Us, M/M, Other, Season/Series 05 Spoilers, very minor spoilers though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28368807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackdaw816/pseuds/Jackdaw816
Summary: John meets a sexual psychomorph
Relationships: Jack Harkness/John Hart, John Hart/Other(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Twisted Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> So I started listening to season 5, which is amazing, and so when I listened to Orr, of course, I got this idea. The spoilers here are very minor, just like the concept of what a sexual psychomorph is, so if you haven't listened to season 5, you can still read this

John could never resist a party. Nor could he resist a good game of poker (well, the local alien equivalent at least.) Especially not one played for such high stakes. John counted two sets of spaceship keys, a low-carat Arcadian diamond, and a strange remote control in the pot. He unstrapped his vortex manipulator, tossed it on the table, and took a seat.

He sized up his competition carefully. If he needed to, he’d make a grab for his bracer and run. But he wasn’t too worried. Three locals of the planet their space station was orbiting, and one that looked human. John got the feeling the latter was the biggest threat. But he was still certain he could beat them all at cards.

The cards were dealt, and the game began. Play was fast and dirty, but John only had to cheat slightly to knock out most of his competitors. Soon it was down to just him and the human-looking lady.

“I suggest you bow out now,” the lady said formally. “Take your little wrist strap and run back to your agency.” John laughed.

“Bold of you to assume they want me back.” He grinned, a hint of teeth making it more of a snarl. “I’m not going anywhere. Deal.” And so she did. 

The game went quick, their faces impassive, their hands flying. John resisted the urge to laugh as he laid down his final cards. He hadn’t even cheated, and he’d won. Sure enough, the lady slammed down her cards, face curled with displeasure.

“Fine. Take them,” she said, standing. John strapped on his vortex manipulator, swept the keys and the diamond into a pocket, and was left with the remote in his hand.

“This was yours then?” he asked, gesturing with the remote. The lady nodded. “What’s it for then? Deadly weapon?” He raised an eyebrow. “Sex toy?” She grinned in a way that had even him unsettled.

“A little bit of both actually.” She snapped her fingers and a human woman emerged from the crowd. She was fairly short with long blond hair loose around her shoulders and a very nice figure. 

“So what, she’s got the weapon?” John asked, growing irritated. The lady laughed.

“Silly boy.” And now John wanted to snap her neck. “They are the weapon.” The lady reached out and touched the necklace around the blond’s neck. “This is a control necklace, and you have the remote. They’re yours now. Enjoy.”

“Wait-” John started, but the lady was gone, disappeared into the crowd, her smaller form hidden by the average seven-foot locals. John sighed and looked at the blond not-a-woman. They smiled at him with absolutely no pleasure. In fact, he could see the fear in their eyes.

“Hello, sir,” they said politely. “How may I serve you?” John ignored the way their words went straight to his crotch and focused instead on how they also sent shivers down his spine. He’d been nearly everywhere, done nearly everyone and everything. But there were areas where even he didn’t dabble. And slavery was one of them.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, tucking the remote in his jacket, then running a hand through his hair. This is not at all what he’d wanted. But these were the cards he was dealt. Literally. “Fuck. Uh, follow me.” He set off at a steady pace, hearing the soft footsteps behind him. Okay, step number one, get the fuck off this space station. Forget the ships, forget the games, forget the bartender he’d been chatting up earlier. It wasn’t safe here.

Luckily, he’d been planning to leave in the morning, so his ship was fueled up and ready to go. A slight bribe to the staff had him and his… companion through customs and out of the station within an hour. Once he’d put the station far in his wake, John sighed with relief, set the autopilot, and went to talk with his guest.

He’d told them to wait in the second bedroom, the one that never went used. He briefly wondered if they’d stayed put. To his mild surprise, he opened the door to find them there, lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He cleared his throat lightly, and they yelped, scrambling to their feet.

“Sorry, sir,” they said, standing stock-still, eyes fixed forward. John frowned.

“Enough with the ‘sir’ crap,” John said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Sit down.” They quickly complied, and John took a seat in the solitary chair in the room. “I’m Captain John Hart. You can call me John.” They nodded once, stiffly, still not meeting his eyes. “What’s your name?”

“Whatever you’d like it to be,” they said demurely. John gritted his teeth. 

“I would like your actual name,” he said, very carefully not snapping at them. He wasn’t mad at them after all. They glanced at him for all of a second, eyes going wide, before looking away again.

“Venn,” they said softly. John nodded. 

“Alright, Venn. Mind telling me about yourself?” Venn glanced at him again, and John blinked. He had sworn their eyes were green. But the gaze meeting his own was blue.

“I’m from Sorva,” they started slowly. “And I’m a sexual psychomorph.” Was it just him or was their voice getting deeper? They must have seen the confusion in his face because they elaborated. “A shapeshifter genetically crafted to morph into the most desired form of their partner.” John froze. Oh no.

“How?” he asked. “Psychic connection?” Venn nodded, their hair growing steadily shorter, and John instantly strengthened his mental defenses. Fucking hell. Why him? “Can you… not do that?”

“Sorry. It is mostly subconscious,” Venn apologized. Their voice was definitely deeper. John got to his feet, feeling Venn poke at his mind. Their blond hair was darkening, already boy-short and spiky. “But why don’t you want me to change? Don’t you want to see your-”

“You’re not him,” John said firmly. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the remote. Time to do what he had to do and go. “Listen, you can stay with me until we hit the next populated world. Then you need to go.” He scanned the buttons on the remote, mentally translating the symbols as he went. Certain he found the right one, he hit it, and Venn’s necklace fell off. They picked it up, eyes wide.

“Captain, but I’m not-”

“You’re not mine,” John said. Venn was definitely changing. Their jaw became more defined, chin gaining a cleft. Their chest was shrinking, flattening into toned pecs. “And neither is he.”

“Then let me be him,” Venn said, voice now achingly familiar. They stood, and with a start, John realized they were taller than him now. He closed his eyes, listening to the transformation of flesh and bone, unable to face them. “I can see him now. You love him.”

“I do,” John whispered, much fainter than he would have liked. “But you’re not him. You’re not him.” There was a moment of complete silence. Venn had completely taken  _ his _ form.

“John,” Venn said slowly. “I can be him.” Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see him standing there, young and gorgeous and just how John remembered him. And wrong. So wrong. A perfect facsimile of a man who no longer existed.

This wasn’t him. But they were the closest he could get. Venn opened his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Come here.” Selfishly and stupidly, he did. Painfully familiar lips crushed against his own, and John let himself surrender to the sweet hell of the best that he could get.


End file.
